Wanna Have a Baby?
by Peace.Love.CSI
Summary: ON HIATUS. Eric and Calleigh find out that they are going to be having a baby. How do they deal with stressful jobs and the prospect of a new baby? Find out in this sequal to "Wanna get Married?"
1. We're having a Baby!

It had been 2 months Calleigh and Eric had gotten married. The honeymoon was long since over , and they had been back to work for a while .

Calleigh was sitting in interrogation with the father of a 17 year old boy who had just shot his best friend with his father's gun. The boy was being charged with 25 to life. When Calleigh had asked him why he did it, he said that the gun was sitting on the table, and the day before his best friend had stolen his girlfriend. So he shot him. Calleigh was baffled as to how anybody could shoot somebody because they had the opportunity, so she brought in the dad to try and prove the boys story as a lie.

"Hello sir, my name is Calleigh Delko and I'm investigating your son. In his testimony he said that there were guns laying around on the table, completely unlocked and bullets loaded. Is this true sir?"

"Yes it is ." The man affirmed.

"How could you just leave a gun lying around, where anyone could have access to it?"

"Ma'am, I trust my kids."

"You trusted him with a gun ? "

"Sure did. He's 17, I figured he would know better than to do anything stupid with it. He knows right and wrong."

"Wait a minute , you trusted a teenage boy not to do something stupid?"

"Like I said ma'am, I did." He said like it was obvious. "I'm not home a lot. I'm a single dad, and I work hard and often to pay for everything my kids need. I have to trust them, and hope that they are going to be responsible. I left the gun there if they ever needed it."

"Let me see if I've got this straight. You just leave your teenage sons alone to do whatever they please and then expect them to be responsible? And on top of that you give them access to a gun, to not only injure themselves but also others?"

"Do you have kids ?"

Calleigh nodded and Eric, who was watching from behind the one-way mirror, got a little confused by her statement. He shot a look towards Natalia to see if she knew what Calleigh was doing, but she shook her head and Eric decided she must be trying to get something more out of him by relating to him.

"Well, do you know where they are every minute of every day?"

She nodded again. "Yes I do."

Under the table her hand came to rest on her stomach and a faint smile crossed her face. The suspect couldn't see it, but Eric and Natalia could. She turned to look at the glass, realizing that Eric had been watching the interview and was probably fully aware of what she had been hinting at by now. Eric, having just gotten the true meaning gasped before a huge smile broke out across his features.

"Well lady, I don't know how in the world you manage that, but I thought that I raised my kids right, and that they wouldn't abuse the trust and freedom that I gave them. I never knew anything like this was going to happen. But it's not my fault. They are allowed to go out and have fun, Brian just abused his privilege."

"I guess you gave him a little too much freedom. There is only so much temptation a teenage boy can take. You gave your son access, and the idea that he could use it if he needed it , without trying to teach him what needing it was . He took your gun and shot his best friend . While you worked to give your sons what they needed, you forgot to give them morals. You may not have shot the boy yourself, but you gave your son the resources."

"Am I being charged with something? Or is this just a waste of my time?"

"No sir, you're completely free to go and do as you please while your son rots in jail as a direct consequence of your actions." She turned on her heel and walked out of the room, directly into Eric . She smiled sheepishly .

"Hey sweetheart."

"How are the kids nowadays Calleigh?" Eric asked teasingly.

She looked down at her feet and rested a hand on her stomach. "Good."

He lifted her head and stared into her eyes . "I'm glad. But, you know I call that I'd would be like 7th to find out about our first baby."

A look of protest crossed her face and she went to say something but Eric leaned down and covered her lips with his .

"I don't mind . I'm gonna be a daddy ! "

"And I'm going to be a mommy." She sighed and leaned against his chest. "Are we ready for this?"

"Ready or not , here comes a baby. We already have an entire nursery set, and enough space. It's a good thing you decided to get bedding for a boy and a girl. You never know what we'll end up with . "

"Hey ! That stuff was too cute to pass up , and I knew that we would be needing it sooner or later . "

"Calleigh it's fine . I told you it was fine when you bought it." She nodded. "You know that now we have to go tell Horatio."

She groaned and pulled him off towards the locker room. " Eric, Come on. It's Friday and I want to go home. I need a nap and a shower. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow at 11:30, and you're coming with me ."

"Wait, it's not official yet?"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure that 4 different brands of tests wouldn't be false. And, I'm 3 weeks late . Trust me, It's definitely official . "

"Good, because I want a baby with you more than anything." He leaned down and kissed her again and then his hand found hers and they walked towards the locker room to grab their coats.


	2. Doctor's Visit

The waiting room of her doctor's office wasn't the coziest, and it certainly wasn't a place you wanted to sit for any length of time, especially if it was hard to wait in the first place. The small room had a horrible false cheery yellow paint on them, and the floor was a bleached white tile.

The children had a better waiting area though, they had toys and a little couch with red, yellow and blue cushions. Their little section was cute and noticing that, Calleigh went over there and sat down in the children's waiting room instead of the one for adults. There were women carefully watching their kids over their magazines, one was doing something on a PDA, and yet another was rocking a baby that looked about 4 months old, while trying to keep an eye on her toddler. Calleigh looked at the woman and walked over to the little boy who kept pulling at his mom's pant leg and crouched down.

"Would you like to play trucks over here while your mommy helps your sister fall asleep." She smiled at the tired-looking woman and she looked confused for a second before an expression of thankfulness crossed her face and she whispered thank you to Calleigh.

"Sure!" He eagerly nodded and grabbed her hand and led her towards the small basket of toys . Boys would play with anybody who was willing to play with trucks, or in the dirt.

Some of the parent's looked at her funny as she sat down on the floor and started playing. She did a puzzle with a little girl and raced cars with a small boy. Eric sat against the wall, with the other parents on the red plastic chairs lining the walls, and could just see her playing with their own children. She would be a great mom. He smiled and watched her casually knock her tower over to let the other kids continue the game of "Who can build their tower the highest" and then stood up to sit next to Eric.

The little boy who she had played with earlier walked out of the exam room with his mom and he must have asked his mom something because she nodded and he walked over towards Calleigh.

"Thank you for paying with me, I had fun."

Calleigh was shocked at how well he spoke for as young as he looked, but smiled. "It was no problem. I had a lot of fun too."

He smiled a slightly gapped tooth smile at her, then ran to grab his mothers hand as she walked out the door with a baby carrier and a diaper bag in tow.

Eric looked at his watch and then lightly rubbed Calleigh's arm. "Our appointment is in about 5 minutes, you filled out all the new patient paperwork right?"

She nodded and motioned towards the clipboard sitting under her purse on the chair next to her.

A nurse walked into the waiting room for the gynecologist's side, and called Calleigh's name. Luckily they were close to the door and heard her . Eric gathered up all of their stuff and they walked out into the hallway to meet the nurse.

"Hi , I'm Calleigh Delko." She introduced herself.

The scrubbed nurse nodded politely. "Right this way ma'am."

She was weighed and measured then led into an exam room and told it would be about 5 minutes .

"Are you ready to find out ? "

"I already know." Calleigh rested her hand on her stomach and looked down thoughtfully. "I don't know how, but I can just feel it. I think it's a little girl too."

"You can tell it's a girl , or you want a little girl?"

"Maybe I want a little girl, but a little boy would be just as good . Or maybe it'll be both . What do you think about THAT?"

"I could deal with twins , two little babies."

She smiled and there was a knock on the door . A doctor in red and white scrubs walked in and sat on a chair and crossed her legs.

"Hi, I'm Doctor Gordon." She stood up and shook Eric's hand and Calleigh waved shyly from her place on an exam table .

"I'm Calleigh and this is my husband Eric. "

"How long have you two been married? "

"About 2 months now . "

The doctor smiled . "So, it's probably a honeymoon baby."

Calleigh blushed and looked at her shoes . The doctor laughed .

"Don't be embarrassed. Now onto the fun questions, why you think that you're pregnant ? "

She nodded and rubbed her hand across her stomach. "I took 4 home pregnancy tests, and they all came out positive . I haven't had any morning sickness or any weird cravings or anything, but I'm late. "

The doctor wrote down her symptoms on her clipboard and then set it down on the counter . "Well , the lab is running a urine test now , and that should be done in about fifteen minutes, there is almost no wait. Not a lot of people are here today, so if you just want to hang around in here I'll be back in about 20 minutes ."

"Ok, thank you."

Dr. Gordon left and Calleigh swung her feet around so that she was sitting against the wall .

Eric saw her getting nervous and got up to sit next to her. He quietly sat down and held her hand . His arm went around her back, making her feel secure . Almost automatically she snuggled into him and let her head fall down onto his shoulder. Calleigh couldn't tell how long they just sat there in a comfortable silence before she took a deep breath and started talking .

"How are you so calm ? I'm so nervous, that I can't think straight, and you're over there perfectly fine. Why does this seem highly unfair? "

Eric laughed and gently pulled at her hand and swung it back and forth softly between them . "I'm not nervous, because it will either happen or it won't. Don't be scared babe, it's not a pass/fail kind of thing, we can always try again if it's not positive.

She squeezed his hand . " Ok . "

She had managed to calm herself down almost completely when another knock came on their door and the doctor poked her head in . She saw them sitting on the exam bed together and smiled .

"Well, we have your results." Calleigh's grip tightened. "You are having a baby . "

She turned to look at Eric and there were tears in her eyes . A few fell and she hugged him tight. "We're having a baby!"

"I know." He whispered into her ear and then he kissed the top of her head and turned his attention back to the doctor .

"According to how you filled out your chart, you should be due either late December or very early January. My best guess is January 6th, but be prepared to deliver anywhere from December 22nd – January 12th. "

Eric laughed. "What a Christmas present ! "

"Yeah, I get to be a blimp for all the Christmas parties!" She said sarcastically .

She shook her head and jumped off the table . The doctor gave them a few pamphlets about pregnancy and a good diet to read over , and a few basic instructions , that should really be considered common sense . Don't smoke. Don't drink. Oddly enough though, it was exciting for Calleigh, like her pregnancy was just starting .

They thanked the doctor and walked out to the car . Eric opened her door and held it open while she got in then walked around to his side. He got in and Calleigh kissed him soundly on the lips and then whispered in his ear . "I'm going to be a mommy! "

"And , I'm going to be a daddy ! "


	3. Dinner with the Family

Calleigh and Eric sat at his parents' house eating dinner . They had decided to tell his parent's about the baby tonight . Eric knew his parents would be excited , but he was worried that his mom might try and offer a little too much advice . Calleigh on the other hand could barely contain herself , and was ready to tell anybody she could , and was willing to take all the help she could get . Since her own mom was out of the picture it was a nice change to have a few stand-in's like Alexx and Clorinda .

"So mom , Calleigh and I have some news for you . "

At that Calleigh's entire face broke into a smile and you could see how happy she was about the news she was about to share . Clorinda saw the look on her face and immediately caught on .

"When is the baby coming ? "

Eric and Calleigh exchanged a look and Eric rolled his eyes . Calleigh smiled and giggled .

"New Years . "

"Oh Honey! " Clorinda stood up and wrapped Calleigh in a hug . "If you need anything , I am here for you, and Eric's sisters , they will give you good advice too . Have you bought all the clothes you need ? We still have some furniture . When did you find out ? "

Calleigh laughed at all the different questions being fired at her and went to answer them but Eric cut her off .

"Mom , one question at a time ."

Eric's dad rolled his eyes . "You should have seen her with Carmen's first . The first grandchild ever. You got lucky, your baby is the six grandchild, it could have been first . "

"I was not that bad ! " Clorinda protested . At that Pavel broke into laughter and got a light smack on the arm from his wife .

Calleigh was still trying to process all the questions she had been asked . Once the conversation had died down a bit and the laughter had stopped , she attempted to answer them . " Well , I have some furniture and clothes , not everything I need but enough . I'd love to see what you have. We just found out today . You're the first people to know . "

" Congratulations . " She said pulling Calleigh into a hug .

"Thanks . " She smiled and stood back so Eric could hug his mom .

An hour later , Calleigh and Eric were on their way home . It had been a little less embarrassing than their last visit , thank God .

" So , what do you think of naming the baby Herman ? " Calleigh asked just to break the silence . It was obvious there was something heavy on Eric's mind , and maybe a little bit of joking would do him good .

Eric turned to look at her deadly straight face . He couldn't decide whether or not to laugh . If he laughed and she wasn't kidding, he might have to face the wrath of a mad hormonal pregnant woman , but if he didn't laugh and it was supposed to be funny , she might be upset . And an upset hormonal pregnant woman might be worse than a mad one. Maybe.

"Eric ? What do you think of Herman? "

"Why don't we hold off on baby names until we know whether it's a boy or a girl . " He forced a smiled and hoped that had been a good enough answer.

She let the smile break out over her face and laughed. Herman? Not a chance .

"I was just kidding . You look like you're thinking about something serious . "

"Just the baby . " He smiled and she returned it . They shared a quick kiss since he was still driving and then he turned all his attention back to the road .

She let her hand come to rest on her stomach . This baby was going to be so lucky . Such a big family and parents that already loved it . She couldn't help but hope that it was a little girl . A boy would be great too , but she could already see herself braiding her daughters hair , and making cookies for her school bake sale , and playing with her dolls .

"Now you're looking serious Cal . What's going on ? "

"Do you want a boy or a girl ? "

"You can't make me choose."

"Sure I can . And don't you dare say all I want is a healthy baby , because that's so cliché and even if it's true , you have to have a preference deep down . "

"I think a little boy would be nice , but I'd love a little girl . "

"Really ? I think I want a little girl . We'll just have to wait and see ."

"For all you know , You're having twins . We could be having a boy and a girl."

Her eyes widened and she looked down at her stomach . Two babies . After a second the shock wore off and a huge smile crossed her face .

"Twins would be nice . "

Eric smiled and nodded . " We already have all the stuff . We'd just need another crib . "

Calleigh smacked him lightly on the arm as her pulled into the parking lot. "Stop bringing that up ! It was 4 months ago . Gosh ! "


	4. Handed Down

It had been a week and Eric and Calleigh were back at his parent's house . This time all Clorinda had talked about was all the baby stuff she had gotten together for them in the attic. There was a tradition in his family to pass each child's baby stuff onto them when they had their first child .

After dinner everyone trooped upstairs to the attic to look through Eric's baby stuff . There was a gorgeous wooden toy box filled with old toys , and boxes upon boxes of clothes and bedding. Calleigh sat down on the ground and pulled a box towards her . It had been labeled years ago , but now the words were faded , and there was no telling what was inside . Carefully as not to break anything she opened the box and peered inside . There were at least 30 books in there , and across the room Pavel cleared his throat and pointed towards a wooden bookshelf painted white .

"The toy box , and the book shelf match. Those books sat on there for 10 years while Eric was growing up . Too bad he never read any of them ."

Calleigh smiled and looked over at Eric who groaned , but caught Calleigh's eyes and smiled back .

Clorinda insisted that they take it all and sort through it when they got home . Eric knew that he would never win an argument with his mother when she was dead set on something so he lifted the first of the boxes and started taking them out to the car .

As soon as Calleigh went to lift a box , Eric appeared and took it out of her hands and walked down the stairs . Calleigh shot him a glare until Clorinda rested a hand on her arm and smiled .

"Let the men carry the boxes while we supervise from the living room. " She laughed and started off towards the stairs .

Calleigh rolled her eyes but laughed and followed her down the stairs towards the living room . Over tea , Calleigh learned about Eric as a baby and even saw a few photo albums full of baby pictures.

Somehow they managed to get everything into their car and survive the drive home. So , Calleigh and Eric sat in the guest room at 9:00 at night , sifting through all of the various boxes of baby stuff. So far they had managed to sort it out into boy stuff and girl stuff. Calleigh was folding the clothes and putting them into the dresser , while Eric was opening the packages of toys , and then putting them into the toy box Clorinda had given them .

"This is a little overwhelming . " Calleigh said with a faint smile .

"What is ? " Eric put down the toy and moved to sit next to her.

"Just .. everything. I just found out today , and it seems like everything is happening so fast."

Eric leaned over and pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead. "It'll be a little overwhelming for a while , then you'll get used to being pregnant and the baby will show up and shake everything up. "

She looked up at him and had to laugh. "What was that ? You're pre-game talks are starting to slack a little bit on the pep . "

Eric pushed some of her hair out of her face and smiled . " I made you laugh didn't I ?"

She rolled her eyes and moved to sort some of the clothes still in her pile . Somehow there were more clothes than toys and she was still folding while Eric sat in the rocking chair, completely finished. Then again all he had to do was throw toys in a toy box .

" I hate when you're right . " She leaned up to kiss him and then got back to work .

He smiled . " No Problem . "

A few minutes passed and Calleigh had finished most of the clothes in her pile , but having Eric sit around and watch was starting to get annoying .

"If you're just going to sit there , start assembling some of this furniture . "

He groaned . "Why are we doing this now ? It's not like we'll need it for another 8 months . "

"Because, as soon everything is sorted and we think we're ready, we'll can get shoved off track again and have to start over."

Eric raised his eyebrows and tried not to laugh . " Okay. Well , how about we do a little bit at a time , that way we don't get ahead of ourselves thinking it's a boy or it's a girl , and end up totally wrong . "

She sighed and folded the last shirt . Sitting it in the dresser she stood up . "You just want to get out of assembling furniture ."

"Not get out of per se , just put off until we know what we're going to need . We don't want to open everything and have it ready just to find out we don't need it . "

"Sure , sure . " She joked , but she had to admit that it made sense. She pulled him into a hug and rested her head on his shoulder . " Do you think we're ready for this ?"

"If not emotionally , we sure are materially . "

Calleigh laughed and ran her fingers through her hair . " I guess time will tell . "


	5. Twins

Calleigh and Eric showed up for her 2:30 check-up almost a half hour early and choose to sit in the adult waiting room this time . Calleigh looked around the room and went to sit down next to a woman and her husband that looked about her age. The woman looked about 6 months pregnant and had an air of happiness radiating off of her .

"Hi , I'm Calliegh and this is my husband Eric . " She introduced herself and smiled at the couple .

"Hi , I'm Amanda and this is Justin . " She looked Calleigh up and down. "How far along are you ? "

"Oh , this is my two-month check-up we just found out a couple weeks ago . And yourself ? "

" About 18 weeks." Suddenly Calleigh felt really bad for thinking she was farther along than she really was . It's not that she was fat , but her stomach was rounder and farther out than a woman might be at four months . Amanda must have seen her reaction, but she just smiled and looked at her belly. " I know I don't look it , but I think the twins are worth it . "

"Oh. Twins , Do you know the sexes yet ?"

" We're finding out today . " She looked over at her husband who had taken up a conversation with Eric about last night's game .

"Congratulations . " She glanced back at Eric who was telling Justin about the baseball game he missed last night . "Weren't they just talking about football ?"

"I don't even try to keep up any more . He tries to teach me about football or baseball regularly , but I usually get up and leave . "

Calleigh laughed and saw a nurse with a clipboard come out . She checked her watch 2:20 . It wasn't time for her appointment yet .

" Reynolds ?"

Amanda stood up and motioned to her husband. "That's me . It was nice to meet you. "

"You too. " Calleigh smiled at her .

Eric saw Calleigh sink back against the seat and close her eyes ,and moved to sit next to her . "Hey , How are you ? "

" Good. Would you be ok if we found out we were having twins ?" Her hand found his and she turned to look at him , waiting for an answer.

"I told you I would . What about you ?"

"I don't know ." She answered truthfully . " Two babies would be nice . We could have our little girl and our little boy . "

He smiled . " You know , we'll find out today if we are . They're doing our first sonogram today . "

Calleigh smiled and squeezed his hand . She closed her eyes and leaned against him , resting her head on his shoulder and felt his arm snake around her should to pull her closer to him .

" How many kids do you want ?"

Eric turned towards her and thought about that for a second . "Maybe 3 or 4 , what about you ? "

" I think that 3 would be nice. We might need a bigger house though . "

The house that Eric's parents had bought them for a wedding present was gorgeous , exactly the style they had wanted , and with the basement and backyard Eric and Calleigh had talked about . It was gorgeous , but only had 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms . It was perfect for them now , they had their master bedroom with an in-suite bath, a guest room , and the room that would be the baby's , but if they were to have more children , they would need a bigger house .

" Well , me might need one anyway . " His hand came to rest on her stomach . " You could be having triplets . "

Her eyes widened and she shook her head. " I think twins would be enough for our first parenting adventure . "

Eric laughed and checked his watch . It was 2:30 now, he gathered up his stuff and handed Calleigh her purse just as the nurse walked out and called their name .


	6. Two Month CheckUp

Calleigh sat on the exam table waiting for her doctor . She had been weighed and measured , and had been sitting here for almost 15 minutes . If they didn't hurry , she wasn't going to make her meeting with Horatio . Both Eric and Calleigh and off today , but they had scheduled a meeting to tell him about the baby , and to tell him what the doctor said about Calleigh working .

It was protocol at the lab that at 6 months women had to be moved to strictly desk-work , and take maternity leave at 8 months . But , knowing Horatio , he would take extra precautions and set other restrictions for Calleigh . Both Eric and Calleigh were like kids to Horatio and they knew he was going to make sure that nothing happened to this baby on his watch .

Eric squeezed her hand . " Calm down . We can always call Horatio and change our meeting time . If we have to , we can do it before work tomorrow. "

Calleigh sighed and nodded. "I know , I just want to get started . I'm anxious . I want to see our baby ."

"Me too , but sitting there swinging your legs isn't going to help time go by any faster . And , you're starting to make me nervous. "

Instantly she blushed and stopped moving her legs . She changed her position on the table and crossed her legs under herself. "Sorry , but it serves you right , you're the one who got me started on this whole twin thing. "

"So now you want twins ? "

"Actually , I think it'd be nice , but there's a much bigger chance we'll only have one , and then we can try again . " She smiled and kissed him quickly .

As she pulled away and leaned back on the table, the door opened and her doctor peaked her head in. "Are you ready for me ? "

Calleigh nodded . "Come on in ."

Doctor Gordon came in and checked Calleigh's chart before moving on to the few questions she had before starting the sonogram .

"So , any new symptoms ? "

Calleigh shook her head . "Not anything really odd , I've been going to the bathroom a bit more , and I haven't had any morning sickness yet . "

"Mhm. " She took notes as Calleigh talked . She looked towards Eric . " Have you noticed anything different about her since she found out about the baby ?"

"A little more cranky in the morning thanks to the no-coffee policy , but other than that , she's been really happy . We got some baby stuff last week and we had a really nice time going through that ."

" Good. Buy anything fun ? "

Calleigh smiled . " We've had a lot of stuff for a while , but Eric's mom gave us all of his old baby stuff and it was just really cool to be able to see what he was like as a baby and go through that . "

" Now, my favorite question , any odd cravings ? "

Calleigh shook her head . " No cravings , I've just been eating more . " She shot a pointed glare at Eric . " Even when I'm not hungry . "

"Well , it's good that you're eating , because even if you're not hungry the baby is and it needs nutrition to grow . "

Eric raised his eyebrows and nodded enthusiastically at Calleigh . "I told you . My sisters gave me all kinds of advice on how to make sure you were comfortable and how to care for you . "

Calleigh laughed . "" Fine , fine . "

"Alright . " Doctor Gordon talked to them as she snapped on her gloves . " So , are you two ready to hear your babies heartbeat ? "

Calleigh smiled and nodded .

" I'm going to ask you to lift up your shirt and pull down your pants just a little bit . " She pulled a small container of gel off of the sonogram cart and popped the lid as Calleigh did as she was told. " This will be cold . "

Calleigh tightened her grip on Eric's hand and he winced for a second then started rubbing tiny circles on her hand with his thumb to calm her down .

The doctor grabbed the wand from the machine and put it on Calleigh stomach . She waited a second and Calleigh strained to see if she could hear the heartbeat , but it was too hard for her to distinguish the sounds from her body and the sound of the baby .

After what seemed like much too long to Calleigh she heard a thumping sound grow louder in the room and instantly she knew it was her baby . She looked at Eric and smiled , she gave his hand another gentle squeeze and waited for the doctor to tell them what they already knew .

The doctor moved the wand around a bit more and looked at the screen . Calleigh sensed something was wrong but didn't know exactly what . She listened to the heartbeat and took deep breaths before her mind could get any farther ahead on bad situations . Eric felt her tense and kissed her cheek , brushing some of her hair out of her face .

Finally Dr. Gordon turned back to them and moved the monitor so they could see it.

"This is an arm , and this is a leg. " She moved the wand around and pointed out different things on the screen . Calleigh had tears in her eyes and even Eric looked close to tearing up as he saw their baby for the first time . "This is a head , and this is a head . "

Dr. Gordon continued to move the wand around and had to hide her smile as Calleigh realized what she'd said .

Calleigh's eyes widened and she just had to laughed . Eric looked at her confused , he must have been too absorbed in the pictures to hear what she had said . "We got our twins. "

Eric's eyes widened and he looked at the screen trying to see another baby . He looked to the doctor .

" This , is Baby A , and this is Baby B . It looks like you're going to be having twins . "

The smile on Calleigh's face was the first real sign of her as a mother . Eric could see the cliché glow everyone talked about expectant mother having and truly saw her in a new way . Not just his wife , or his lover , but the mother of his children . Children . In 7 months , he would have not one but two babies to call his own .

Eric shook hands with the doctor and took the pictures she offered . He handed one to Calleigh and kept one for himself .

"Our first baby picture . "

"It's going on the fridge . " Calleigh declared .

Eric laughed and helped Calleigh into the car . "Let's go see Horatio . "

"Hopefully I'll still be able to work by the time we get home . "


	7. Spaghetti Dinners and Mood Swings

Eric sat in the car , slightly worried about telling Horatio. He had been fine throughout their whole relationship, so it shouldn't be a problem that Calleigh was pregnant, but she would be the first mommy that CSI has seen in a while. In fact, there hadn't been a pregnant CSI in the entire time that Eric and Calleigh had been there. He sighed; he and Calleigh seemed to be the couple for firsts at Miami Dade Police Department.

He looked over at Calleigh and couldn't help but smile, she was laying back in her seat , her small hands gently resting on her still-flat belly .Silently he reached over and grabbed one of her hands. Her eyes opened slowly and she looked over at Eric with a smile on her face .

"Hey you."

"Hey." He said as her pulled into a spot in the CSI parking lot . "Ready to tell H ?"

She shook her head, but smiled and got out of the car anyways . As soon as they reached the elevator Calleigh stopped, Eric turned towards her and saw an expression of pure nerves resting over her delicate features.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" He pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head.

"What if I can't work in the field anymore?"

"What if you can't ?" She looked up at him confused . " You'll still be able to work in the lab , and ballistics . That's your favorite place to be anyways."

She smiled and nodded . "True . So , as long as he doesn't take my guns away from me we're all set . "

Eric laughed and released her , dropping another light kiss on her forehead just as the elevator doors opened .

They made their way to Horatio's office and told him right away about the twins . They had no desire for the babies to be unsafe , but petitioned that Calleigh be allowed to work in the field until she was 6 months , which was when her obstetrician recommended that she stop working . Horatio agreed with her doctor , and told Calleigh that he would allow her to work in the field until she hit the 6 month mark , at which time she would be placed on strict lab work . He also restricted Calleigh from working toxicology because of the chemical hazards towards the baby .

They agreed quickly to his terms and went to leave , but Horatio stopped them and gave Calleigh a quick hug. "Congratulations."

"Thank you . This means a lot to us , that you're ok with this ."

"It's my pleasure to be a part of these babies lives ."

Calleigh blushed slightly and let her hand come to rest on her stomach. " I'll make sure they know exactly who their uncle Horatio is ."

Eric nodded and put his arm around her. He nodded at Horatio and walked Calleigh out of the office giving her a quick kiss before heading towards the locker room .

Before long , both were wrapped up in hectic cases that left no time to make their announcement . Calleigh even had to stay a little later to analyze a few more bullets while Eric finished his case early . He didn't want to leave without her , but she insisted that he go home and relax , she'd follow him shortly .

He didn't want to upset her by staying when she didn't want him to , so he agreed leaving her the car and taking his hummer from its assigned spot. He got back to their home within 15 minutes and decided to start on dinner so that Calleigh didn't have to do anything when she got home .

He had finished everything except setting the table by the time she walked through the door . The spaghetti was simmering on the stove and he checked it one last time before walking out to greet his wife .

"Finish everything at the lab ?" he questioned as he pulled her into a gentle embrace .

"I did . The results are on Horatio's desk , and he's probably reading them as we speak ."

"Good , you're all mine until Monday ." He leaned down and kissed her . She responded eagerly and wrapped her arms around his neck. Eric pulled away after a few seconds and Calleigh snuggled tightly into his chest. "Are you ready to eat?"

Calleigh looked up at him and assessed the look on his face , he seemed proud , so he must have cooked. "It depends on what you made me."

He laughed. "I made spaghetti."

"My favorite!" Calleigh's eyes brightened and she kissed him again before heading into the kitchen. Spaghetti sounded perfect right about now.

Eric rolled his eyes , but the smile never left his face as trailed after her. "I hope the babies like Spaghetti."

Calleigh nodded and spooned some onto a plate , handing it to Eric before putting another serving onto her own plate , and walking towards the dining room. She sat down and dug in eagerly , it smelled great and looked absolutely delicious . At least , it did for the first fw bites , but apparently the babies didn't enjoy spaghetti as much as Calleigh did and decided that they didn't want any .

She jumped up from her chair , covering her mouth and running to the bathroom . Eric jumped up too and followed her , making sure to hold her hair back and rub her back soothingly until she was sure that she was done throwing up .

After a minute or so she leaned back into Eric . "I really hope that the babies don't hate all you're cooking this much , or I'm going to get fat eating take-out when I'm too tired to cook . "

"You're going to get fatter anyway Calleigh." Eric said , regretting it as soon as it left his mouth .

Her eyes widened and her mouth fell into a frown . She smacked his arm hard, and got up, leaving him alone in the bathroom. Eric groaned and leaned back to sit against the bathroom wall , he was really going to have to watch the stupid comments while she was pregnant , especially since he didn't know how bad the mood swings would be yet .

After silently yelling at himself, and preparing for Calleigh to yell at him, he got up and walked toward the bedroom where he had heard her run to when she left . He knocked cautiously and opened the door to see Calleigh laying on the bed , her arms wrapped around her legs , curled up into a ball , shaking with sobs . It broke Eric's heart to see her crying because of something he did . He moved to hold her and when she seemed to let him , he tightened his grip a bit and apologized , kissing her forehead lightly and rubbing her back .

"I'm so sorry , I didn't meant to be insensitive . That was a stupid comment , especially when it doesn't matter to me if you get any bigger."

She looked up at him incredulously. "You won't care in the least when I'm a big fat cow?"

He sighed and moved away from her a bit so he could look into her eyes. "You could never look like a fat cow , you're absolutely gorgeous now , and when you're stomach get's bigger to give our babies some room to grow , you'll still be gorgeous Calleigh . And I promise , I won't care in the least even if you do you end up looking like a cow ."

He hoped that she would laugh at the last bit and she did , after hitting him on his arm again. He smiled at her and she returned the gesture . "I'm sorry, it just hit me all at once that I'll be getting really big in a few months ."

"But that's just it , you'll be getting bigger , but you won't be fat , you'll be pregnant !"

"Pregnant and fat are like synonyms! If you're pregnant you get fat . "

"The difference is that if you're pregnant, you have an excuse and people let you eat all the ice cream you want , while if you're just a fat cow , everybody gives you dirty stares when you go for the ice cream."

Calleigh laughed again, and Eric was glad to see the twinkle in her eyes. "Speaking of ice cream …" She smiled at him and suggestively raised her eyebrows .

Eric fake groaned and moved to get off the bed . "Peanut Butter Parfait? "

She nodded and gave him a quick hug before banishing him to get her some ice cream. Hopefully the babies liked peanut butter ice cream as much as she did. If not , she would have to find some new favorite foods soon .


	8. ER Visits

After almost an hour Eric hadn't returned , and Calleigh was starting to get worried . She had moved to the living room and was watching TV with her feet up. She pulled her cell phone out of her pockets and turned it over a few times nervously before setting it on the table and returning her attention to the television . Her favorite show was on , the new season of CSI had been her favorite so far . She managed to get through an entire episode, getting pulled into the drama , and occasionally laughing at the tests that literally took hours taking under a minute on screen.

As it ended she stood up and stretched . As she lifted her hands over her head , and glanced over at the clock and was amazed at how much time had passed since her husband had left on his quest for ice cream . Suddenly the sinking feeling in her stomach was overwhelming and she just knew that something was wrong . She ran to the coffee table and grabbed her phone , she was ready to call him, just to ease the worry that had taken over her entire body , when it rang in her hands. She jumped a little but looked at the caller id and saw Horatio's named lighting up the little screen.

He'd probably just been called into work and been too busy to call she reasoned , but he never forgot to call , especially since she'd gotten pregnant . He didn't want her to have any stress , and he definitely didn't want to be the cause of it , but right now the dread that consumed her entire body shook her hands and made the hair on her arms stand up . Quickly she reached over and grabbed the phone .

"Horatio ?" She breathed , eager for something , anything to do that would ease some of this worry .

"Calleigh , it's Eric ." Those three words collapsed her entire world . In one fatal swoop she knew that he hadn't just forgotten to call . Trying to stop the sobs she felt would soon be racking through her body she wiped the tears running down her face and tried to compose herself for the next few minutes crucial to finding out what had happened to Eric.

"What Horatio ? Where is he ?"

"Calleigh , you have to calm down." He said in the voice he reserved for children and apparently emotional pregnant women .

"He's not .. dead , is he ?" She asked , her voice obviously breaking and tears reappearing on her previously dried face. Every bit of composure she had managed to muster up was fading fast.

"Calleigh ,No ! " She sighed , letting out a deep breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding in . "He's been checked at Miami Dade though . He was involved in a pretty serious car accident his way home from the grocery store ."

She took a deep breath and wiped the last of the tears off her face. She knew she had to be strong , for Eric and for the babies. Resting a hand on her stomach and cradling the phone between her head and her shoulder , she began to pace around the apartment , throwing various things into a bag she would need to stay with Eric at the hospital.

" Horatio , I'll be there in 15 minutes."

"He'll be okay Calleigh." He told her , seemingly reassuring himself as much as it was for her .

"I know . He has to be." She whispered the last part and put the phone down , letting it come to rest back on the coffee table as she finished packing .

She ran to the bedroom , grabbed one of Eric's hoodies and held it close to her body , letting herself linger in the smell for just another second before throwing it on and running back to the living room . In late May a sweat-shirt wasn't really necessary , but hospitals were always cool and a little familiarity could only be good for her . She snatched up her phone , and shoved it in her pocket before grabbing her keys and heading towards the door , barely remembering to lock it before jumping into her car and driving at least 30mph above the speed limit the entire drive .

As she arrived at the hospital she parked her car in a spot too far away for her liking , then again , the front door wouldn't be close enough, and almost ran to the building.

She slowed her pace at the door and walked inside to meet the receptionist . She asked for his room number and was escorted by a male nurse who kept hitting on her .

" Hey baby , who you visiting ?" He said , looking her up and down .

She almost regretted wearing this sweatshirt . At barely three months pregnant , you couldn't really see the slight hint of a bump she was sporting in a tight shirt , let alone a sweatshirt three sizes too big for her . She had been grateful for that earlier when she could pack without checking sizes , but at least if she was bigger people would back off a little .

"My husband." She said with a pointed glare towards him and she came to a stop outside the door of her husband's room . She still didn't know what had happened , but didn't want to stand in the hallway any longer than necessary with this guy . With one last glance over her shoulder to watch him walk away , she braced herself and turned the doorknob .

As soon as she walked in she saw Eric , his tan skin glowing against the white sheets , illuminated with a fluorescent white glow that was distinctly hospital . He didn't look bad , but Calleigh knew from experience that that didn't mean anything when it came to injuries .

She moved closer to her sleeping husband , and over towards Horatio , who was currently occupying the chair next to his bed . Without Calleigh having to ask , Horatio stood up and helped her sit down . Immediately she grabbed Eric's hand and began rubbing circles onto his palm with her thumb .

She glanced at Eric then back to Horatio , " What happened to him H?"

He glanced towards the ground and then towards the door , probably willing a doctor to come in and explain everything easier than he could . As last he took a deep breath and began to explain , Calleigh holding onto his every word , taking in each thing that was said about the sick man , laying in the hospital bed next to her .


	9. And the Doctor Says

Calleigh heard the words , but she wasn't sure she understood what had been said to her . All she knew was that a car had crashed into Eric's on the way back home from the grocery store, and that he had a gash on his arm that needed to be stitched up, and that he could possibly have some internal bleeding in his abdomen. Her emotional side was overtaking her mental capability and though the damage sounded minimal , she couldn't stop the sinking feeling overtaking her whole body. A few tears escaped her eyes while Horatio was telling her the rest of what the doctors had said, but she made no motion to wipe them away , she was too concentrated on holding Eric's hand and praying that he would be ok.

Suddenly she pulled herself together and started giving demands out. " You need to call his parents and we have to make sure Ryan or Natalia can cover his shift later-."

Horatio gave her a weak smile, "We've taken care of all that Calleigh, right now you just need to relax and let the nice doctors do their jobs."

She looked back at the door and saw a nurse and two doctors waiting. " What are they doing?" She whispered.

"They have to take him in to get x-rays to check for internal bleeding. He'll be fine Calleigh, you just have to give him some time for his body to fix itself."

She took one last look at her husband and squeezed his hand before releasing it and following Horatio towards the waiting room . She sat around for about a half hour , but when that got to be too much she stood up and proceeded to pace until Horatio grabbed her hand and ushered her into a chair . As worried as she was , she was tired too. As soon as she closed her eyes, she was asleep.

Calleigh was unaware of the hustling and bustling of the hospital as she slept , Horatio never leaving her side . Members of the team convened in the waiting room , taking turns getting coffee or snacks . Natalia and Ryan had both been told and had came , surprisingly together , as soon as they heard . Even Eric's parent's joined the small group of people , slowly taking over a corner of the small room . While Calleigh slept , no news had come from doctors or even a nurse since they'd taken x-rays.

After another hour, she woke up and checked the time. It had been almost two hours since they'd taken him back for '_jus_t x-rays' . She couldn't decide whether or not things had gone well or something bad had happened. Part of her wanted to know whether he was ok or not right now, but another part of her just wanted to keep sitting in the waiting room oblivious to all the things that could have happened. If the results had come back positive they might have rushed him into surgery to stop the internal bleeding , but if they came back negative , what was taking so long ?

The more she thought about it , the more she felt that something had to have gone wrong. They must have found something wrong if it was taking this long .

When Eric's doctor did finally arrive in the waiting room , Calleigh jumped up and ran towards him.

"How is Eric? Is he alright?" She asked desperately. Clorinda wrapped her arms around her daughter and pulled her close as she listen to the doctor's explanation .

The middle-aged man told her some things that she really didn't care about. She hadn't heard what she needed to hear, and was getting very annoyed .

"Excuse me , is my husband alright ?" She impatiently asked , interrupting the doctor's too long explanation .

A smile overtook the doctor's face, despite Calleigh snapping at him , and he nodded. "We believe that your husband will make a full recovery , there shouldn't be any lasting damage. The gash on his arm was rather deep and required 13 stitches. He was lucky though, the glass that cut him didn't penetrate any major veins or arteries. He'll have to stay in the hospital a few more days to make sure that he remains free of infection, but I will personally make sure that he is well taken care of ."

"When can I see him ?" She asked , eager to see for herself that Eric was fine.

Looking at his watch , the doctor checked the time and then gestured for Calleigh to follow him . "You should be able to see him now. The nurses should have him settled into his room again."

"Thank You ." she moved to follow him, but glanced back at the waiting room doors nervously.

Clorinda nodded knowingly. "I'll make sure everyone knows how Eric is. Go."

She smiled at her mother-in-law and moved to catch up with the doctor, already on his way to Eric's room.

"Here we are . " Dr. Warner said with a wave of his hand . He opened the door and stepped in . Suddenly nervous, Calleigh followed shyly, not sure what to expect .

Eric was awake and sitting up in bed , with the support of what looked like a mountain of pillows stacked around him . He smiled at her and waved her over .

Calleigh sighed in relief and shook the doctor's hand tiredly . He smiled back at her and then excused himself , reminding them both that he would be back in about an hour .

Replacing the smile over her tired expression wasn't difficult when she saw Eric's face . As sick and weak as he looked sitting in the hospital bed , he was still attractive in her eyes . One of her weddings vows popped into her head, "In sickness and in health." , at the wedding she had actually hoped there would never be a sickness for either of them to have to endure . But here they were, together and recovering slowly .

She smiled at Eric and reached over to brush some of his hair outs of his eyes, before grabbing his hand and holding it tightly.

"I'm so glad you're okay. I was so worried about you." She said all in one breathe.

Eric smiled at her. "I'm fine. I promise."

She looked him over once and looked into his eyes. He didn't seem to be in pain, and his arm was the only thing bandaged. A few scrapes were visible on his face and arms, but they must have been minimal compared to the gash on his arm. After another quick once over she smile and looked up to meet his worried eyes. "You seem fine, for now. But if you start to feel bad.."

"I'll tell you , I promise. Now, I see you've abducted another one of my sweatshirts." He said, making fun of her. Lately she had been taking more and more of his sweatshirts from his side of the closet.

Calleigh looked down and rolled her eyes . "You caught me . Darn ."

"Well , you're punishment is that you have to kiss me. " Eric declared , leaning in for a quick kiss .

She placed her lips slightly against her husbands, and then pulled away just barely , so that their foreheads were still touching . "I don't think that's a very good punishment. "

"I'm sure that sitting in the waiting room with Ryan for two hours was enough punishment for you." He said , a huge smile overtaking his face.

Calleigh rolled her eyes and lightly hit Eric on his unbandaged arm before smiling back at him . "Because I'm sure that having to sit with Ryan was the worst of what I went through these past two hours."

"I'm sorry for that by the way." He looked down at his arm, obviously thinking about the 13 stitches currently resting under the thick layer of gauze taped to his skin.

She lifted his chin and looked him straight in the eyes. "This was not your fault. And I'm just glad that you're okay."

He smiled at her and leaned in to kiss her gently one more time.


	10. Her First Real Break Down

Two weeks later Eric had been released from the hospital with a clean bill of health, after a slight infection had stopped him from getting out early as the doctor's had planned. He had been released back to work, given it was on light duty to make sure that the stitches didn't pull out, though his physical therapist said that there were no major physical implications after his accident.

Currently, Eric was sitting on the living room couch waiting for Calleigh to finish getting ready. They were supposed to be going out with the team for dinner tonight, but she had been in the bedroom for over an hour trying to find something to wear, and if she didn't find something in the next five minutes and then run out the door, they were going to be late.

With a sigh, Eric got up and walked towards their bedroom to see how his wife was doing. He knocked gently on the door and called his wife's name. "Calleigh? Baby, how are you doing in there?"

In response to his question he heard a sniffle and he immediately knew something was wrong. He opened the door and saw his wife sitting on the floor, her legs pulled up as close to her chest as her almost 4 month belly would allow, and her arms wrapped around her legs, holding them tight as if trying to hold herself together. Eric walked over and wrapped his arms around her, gently moving her head so that he could see her face instead of a curtain of blonde hair.

"Calleigh? What's wrong ?" Eric asked, tucking some of her hair behind her ear and gently placing a hand on her face, wiping away some of the tears with his thumb.

"I'm going to sound stupid." Calleigh didn't want to tell him the real reason she was so upset, but she really didn't want him worried about her either.

"No you won't Cal." He reassured her.

"You're going to laugh at me." She reasoned.

"Calleigh, come on. I'm just trying to help."

Sighing, she moved so that she was sitting crossed-legged on the floor with her hands resting on her tiny belly. "None of my clothes fit anymore, and I can't find anything that doesn't make me look like a fat cow. And I'm not going out to dinner with our friends looking like a fat cow. So you're going to have to cancel our plans, and then everybody's going to know something's wrong, and they're all going to want to know what, and then they're all going to laugh at me. Like you are!" Hearing him chuckling lightly she raised her hand and punched him as hard as she could in the shoulder. "I _told_ you that you were going to laugh. I said that it was stupid and wasn't even worth talking about."

Eric looked at her offended, and moved his hand to rub his shoulder. "Ouch, Cal. I wasn't laughing at you."

Calleigh looked at him incredulously. "You are a liar." She got up and walked towards the closet, ready to put on sweatpants and a big t-shirt and call it a night.

"No really. I was just laughing, it's been four months and this is your first real break down." He explained.

An angry look overtook Calleigh's features and she stormed towards the bathroom, some sort of clothes in hand. As she opened the door she looked over her shoulder. "I'm glad that you find this whole thing funny, because I sure as hell don't. It's irritating. And it's aggravating. That's what it is."

She slammed the door and Eric heard the light click of the lock. He sighed and sat back on his heels. Hopefully she still wasn't one to hold a grudge, even in pregnancy, or he was going to be in the dog house for a long time.

Eventually Eric heard the bathroom door opened and out walked Calleigh in a pair of khaki Capri's and a green t-shirt that fit snugly over her bump, but looked cute rather than making her look fat. Her hair was perfectly done along with her make-up, and she looked absolutely amazing.

Stunned for a minute, he stood up and moved over to her. When he tried to kiss her, she leaned in a bit and didn't push him away, so Eric thought he was in the clear. Then without warning Calleigh put her hands on his chest and lightly pushed him back.

"Not just yet. We are going shopping for maternity clothes. And you still have to apologize for being stupid earlier."

Eric looked into her eyes apologetically, and one of his signature smiles graced his face. "Calleigh, I am truly sorry for making you feel like you are anything but beautiful."

She smiled in response to his words and leaned in to kiss him again. "Apology accepted. But don't expect it to work every time now. I was planning to forgive you, even before your sweet apology."

He nodded and moved towards the dresser to grab his wallet and her purse. Handing her the black bag and pocketing his own wallet, he walked towards the door, holding it open for her before following her out to the car, ready for a long couple hours of shopping.


	11. Going Shopping

Calleigh sat in the passenger seat of their car in the mall's parking lot trying to remember what stores would sell any kind of maternity clothes in her style. She sighed and started to get out, deciding to just walk around the mall and check out different stores. Eric, who had resolved to follow her around wherever she wanted to go today as a personal punishment, got out with her and followed slightly behind her, before lengthening his stride and grabbing her hand. Calleigh looked over and smiled at him, swinging her hand lightly between them.

"Cal, do you want to try one of the department stores? I'm sure that they have maternity clothes, and we could look at baby clothes while we're in there." Eric suggested, trying to help out his wife.

She whipped her head around and glared at him, "I am _not_ wearing department store maternity clothes, seeing how I am _not_ 45 and on my fourth child."

Eric, slightly offended, just nodded his head and offered another suggestion. "What if we try some of your regular stores, and just buy some of the clothes you already have in bigger sizes?"

"Or, I could pick out my own clothes, seeing how I am a big girl." She replied in a sarcastic tone. She was irritated from sitting for over an hour, her back hurt and her clothes were uncomfortable.

Eric reminded himself that he loved his wife, and took a deep breath. "Whatever you want Calleigh. I'll go and wait for you in the food court if you want. I just thought maybe we could do some shopping together for our babies, but if you'd like to pick out some things on your own, that's fine."

Suddenly mortified Calleigh's hand flew up to cover her mouth as her eyes started to swell with inevitable tears. "Eric, please come with me. I'm so sorry."

He moved towards her and pulled her in a light hug, squeezing her gently as she rested her head on his chest. "It's no problem Cal, I know you're not in the best mood today. Where do you want to go?"

She sighed, back at the original issue. Calleigh didn't want to look frumpy, but she didn't want any of the newer 'teen' maternity clothes, so it seemed she was at a crossroad. Eric's suggestion seemed plausible, so she headed towards Forever 21, thinking that maybe she could find some of her favorite shirts in bigger sizes to fit over her belly. Her husband followed dutifully behind, content to follow her to whatever store she decided on.

"This is _not_ working." She groaned, frustrated. "I've tried on a million outfits, I'm hot, and none of these shirts are big enough."

"Calleigh, this store was fine when you were-"

She cut him off and in a harsh tone asked, "What, this store was fine when I was skinny?"

Eric closed his eyes, opening them again slowly to stare at the woman he had to remind himself that he loved. "Baby, you're gorgeous. But, you are 17 weeks pregnant with twins; you can't expect to be the same size as before."

Hearing the argument a brave attendant, who Eric guessed to be about 26, ventured over to help the disgruntled blonde. "Excuse me ma'am, I couldn't help but over hear your dilemma. If you'd be willing to drive a little bit, there is a wonderful maternity store about twenty minutes away. They carry all kinds of new fashions for pregnant women, about your age. It is slightly pricey, but the quality of their clothes is worth it. It was the only placed I shopped when I was pregnant with my son."

For the first time that day Calleigh smiled and nodded, following the woman to the front desk to get their information and a card with a phone number and an address.

"Hey, do you want to go check it out? It's on the way back to the house, and it couldn't hurt." Eric asked.

Calleigh looked down at the card she had been given, and nodded. "Even if I find one outfit, that's something. Because right now, I've got nothing to wear and your mom is having that cook out next week, then we have that 4th of July barbeque at your sisters, and I need to find something decent before then, not to mention work."

As she spoke Eric nodded, knowing that they had a busy few weeks coming up. It was the peak of their summer holidays, and Calleigh was close to that 20 week mark where the doctor would hopefully help them determine the sex of their babies. They thanked the kind attendant again, and returned to their car for the slight hike to what they hoped would be Calleigh's new favorite store. Luckily, the store was open and ready for them when they pulled in not much later. Eric opened the thin glass door, and held it as Calleigh walked through. He admired her for a second, before following her beeline to a clothing rack in the center of the room.

For the second time that day, an attendant approached them. "Hello, welcome to A Pea in the Pod, are you looking for anything in particular?" After a bit of advice and some reassurance that they would call her if they needed any help, she left the couple alone to browse the masses of racks and tables that the store held.

Calleigh warmed up a bit to shopping once she realized that there was some cute maternity clothing if you found the right store. She managed to find 6 new pairs of jeans, with a strip of stretchy fabric to expand over her bump as the babies grew as well as a few pairs of khakis and dress pants for work. Moving on to dresses and tops, she got right into her element. Eric took a seat in a chair by the dressing room after Calleigh reprimanded him for playing with the stretchy belts.

Every few moments Calleigh's words of excitement would penetrate the silence in the store as she exclaimed, "Look at this, I didn't even know that they made formal dresses in maternity!" followed closely by the frequent, "How cute is this!"

Eric smiled and nodded as the pile on his lap grew. Calleigh was currently on an adventure through the shoe department, although she was 'not quite finished' with tops. She had found a few blouses that she would need for work, including a tunic she loved and decided she wanted in green and black, as well as ten or twelve every day shirts that she could wear out and about while running errands or just hanging out at home. Then in amazement, she found the dress section and picked out two different dresses for special occasions this summer. One, a short formal white gown with a black decal and ribbon and the other a long strapless yellow patterned dress. Eric couldn't help but think that even pregnant his wife was going to be the best dressed woman in Miami, these outfits didn't even look like maternity clothes until she tried them on and you could see the definite outline of her baby bump under each of the shirts and dresses. More than once Eric caught his wife eying herself in the mirror, no doubt imagining the rest of her pregnancy, as she got bigger and bigger and then finally the arrival of the babies.

"You look gorgeous Calleigh." She smiled at him, and headed back into the dressing room to change back into her stretchy yoga pants and big t-shirt. Once she was dressed, she looked down and shook her head. Thank God that she found this store, it was expensive, but she could be comfortable at last, and look good at the same time.

She walked out of the small room and looked toward Eric who was guarding quite a pile in his wife's cart, all of clothing that Calleigh had deemed simply adorable. "Ready dear?"

"You bet." He stood up and stretched his arms over his head, giving Calleigh a view of a small strip of his dark muscular stomach. She winked in approval and he laughed before moving the cart and heading towards checkout. Luckily the total was about what they had estimated, despite the change in location. They paid and finally left what was sure to be Calleigh's one stop shopping for maternity clothes from now on.

With a sigh Calleigh leaned back in her seat, resting her head on the rest behind her, before turning towards her husband. She reached over and placed a hand on his neck, turning his head to face her, and leaned over to place a light kiss on his lips. "Thank you for today."

Eric leaned back for a second, and smiled with eyes half shut. "No problem, whatever it took to make you see yourself as the beautiful woman I see you."


End file.
